Combined shaving brush and mixer

ABSTRACT

A shaving brush for applying shaving foam to a person&#39;s body includes a brush head comprised of a plurality of bristles secured at one end to a base and a hollow handle secured to the opposite side of the base. The handle can contain a foamable liquid therein. A passageway extends between the interior of the handle and the bristles through the base. A small electric motor on the outside of the handle spins an agitating blade within the handle to turn the liquid into foam which is forced through the passageway when a portion of the handle is depressed. The handle also includes as opening therein which allows liquid to be introduced into the interior of the hollow handle by the spinning blade.

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION

The present invention is directed toward a shaving brush that includes a chamber in the handle including a mechanical or electrical stirrer or mixer for converting a liquid into shaving foam to be dispensed onto the brush bristles.

Shaving cream or foam or lather is normally applied to a man's face before shaving in order to maintain moisture on the skin and whiskers. Keeping them moist results in a closer shave with less irritation to the skin. For many years, before the advent of canned shaving cream, men applied shaving foam to their faces with a shaving brush.

The greatest benefit from shave brush use is the tendency to soften and lift facial hair before a shave. Applying shaving cream by hand mats hair or raises it unevenly. Shave brush use, however, requires agitation of the soap or cream in a mug to form a lather suitable for shaving, before application of the lather to the face. Therefore, a razor does not need to be pressed to the skin in order to provide a close shave.

Conventionally, a wet brush was dabbed onto a solid soap block which was usually kept in a mug. This could become somewhat messy and unsanitary. While the brush could be rinsed and cleaned after each use, germs could grow on the wet soap block in the mug. Furthermore, the use of a brush and mug could be inconvenient when traveling as they both had to be carried along.

Over the years, numerous attempts to solve this inconvenience have been proposed. One proposal has been to make the handle of the brush hollow to provide a chamber for holding a quantity of shaving lather therein. One or more passageways between the chamber and the brush bristles allowed the lather to be forced from the chamber onto the bristles. See, for example, U.S. Pat. No. 1,170,923 to Malkin and U.S. Pat. No. 1,412,958 to Pearlmutter. The entire contents of those patents are incorporated herein by reference.

These prior inventions, however, still suffered from significant deficiencies. The chambers in the handles could hold only a small quantity of foam. Accordingly, they had to be refilled often which meant that a quantity of foam or lather had to be carried when traveling or other means had to be provided for creating the lather in order to refill the chamber.

For example, a lather generator such as suggested by U.S. Pat. No. 3,220,954 to Malbe could be carried along with the shaving brush for refilling the hollow brush chamber. Malbe describes a device wherein water and soap flakes are poured into a closed mug and the combination is agitated by a motor-operated spinning blade to create the foam or lather. The entire contents of the Malbe patent is also incorporated herein by reference. Again, however, both the brush and the lather generator had to be carried together.

There is, therefore, a need for a shaving brush that is self-contained and is capable of creating its own shaving lather or foam.

SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION

The present invention is designed to overcome the deficiencies of the prior art discussed above. It is an object of the present invention to provide a shaving brush with a hollow handle that can be used by itself to create shaving foam or lather.

It is a further object of the invention to provide a shaving brush that is capable of converting liquid soap into shaving lather simply and easily with the push of a button.

In accordance with the illustrative embodiment demonstrating features and advantages of the present invention, there is provided a shaving brush for applying shaving foam or lather to a person's body, The brush includes a brush head comprised of a plurality of bristles secured at one end to a base and a hollow handle secured to the opposite side of the base. The handle can contain a foamable liquid therein. A passageway extends between the interior of the handle and the bristles through the base. A small electric motor on the outside of the handle spins an agitating blade within the handle to turn the liquid into foam which is forced through the passageway when a portion of the handle is depressed. The handle also includes an opening therein which allows liquid to be introduced into the interior of the hollow handle to be turned into foam by the spinning blade.

Other objects, features, and advantages of the invention will be readily apparent from the following detailed description of the preferred embodiment thereof taken in conjunction with the drawings.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

For the purpose of illustrating the invention, there is shown in the accompanying drawings one form which is presently preferred; it being understood that the invention is not intended to be limited to the precise arrangements and instrumentalities shown.

FIG. 1 is an overall perspective view of the shaving brush of the invention;

FIG. 2 is a vertical cross-sectional view thereof, and

FIG. 3 is a perspective view similar to FIG. 1 but with portions broken away to illustrate the interior features of the brush handle.

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENT

Referring now to the drawings in detail wherein like reference numerals have been used throughout the various figures to designate like elements, there is shown in FIGS. 1-3 a shaving brush and mixer or agitator constructed in accordance with the principles of the present invention and designated generally as 10. The brush 10 is comprised of a brush head 12 which includes a plurality of bristles 14 that are secured at their upper end 16 to a base 18. A hollow handle 20 is secured to the base 18 on the opposite side of the bristles. The hollow handle is in the form of a chamber that is adapted to contain a quantity of a foamable liquid 22 therein.

A plurality of small openings or passageways 24 in the base 18 provide communications between the hollow handle 20 and the bristles 14. An agitator 26 in the form of a rotatable blade is located in the interior of the handle 20 and is capable of mixing or agitating the foamable soapy liquid 22 in order to turn the liquid into shaving lather or foam 28.

An electric motor 30 positioned at the top of the handle 20 is connected to the agitator 26 through the drive shaft 32. The motor 30 includes a small battery (not shown) and the push button switch 34 located on top of the motor 30 turns the motor 30 on and off as desired to rotate the agitator 26.

The agitating system comprised of the motor 30, blade 26, shaft 32 and button 34 can be constructed similar to the system shown in the Malbe patent discussed above. However, it will be of a substantially smaller size so as to fit into the handle 22 of the brush 10. This is, of course, by way of example as other types of blades and other types of motor means are also possible. By way of example, a wind-up spring motor or other types of mechanical devices that are activated by a person's finger or hand could also be utilized in lieu of an electric motor.

In order to force the foam 28 from the interior of the handle 20 through the passages 24 to the bristles 14, at least a portion of the handle 20 is formed of a resilient or rubbery material such as shown at 36. Alternatively, and as shown in the Malkin and Pearlmutter patents discussed above, the entire handle 20 could be made of a resilient material. In any case, when the resilient portion 36 of the handle is depressed, air pressure forces the foam 28 downwardly through the openings or passages 24. A small one-way valve 38 in the resilient material portion 36 allows air to enter so as to permit the resilient material to back outwardly and be restored to its original position after it is depressed.

The openings or passages 24 are preferably small enough so that no liquid or foam can pass therethrough without pressure forcing the same through the openings. Alternatively, simple one-way flapper valves or the like could be included. In lieu of the plurality of small passages 24 it is not beyond the scope of the present invention to include a single passageway such as shown in the Malkin and Pearlmutter patents.

In order to introduce the foamable liquid material 22 into the interior of the handle 20, an opening or port 40 is formed adjacent the top thereof. A plug 42 is used to close the port 40 after liquid is introduced into the handle. The plug 42 can either be threaded into the fill port 40 or it can be made of a rubbery or elastomeric material and be friction fit into the same.

The present invention may be embodied in other specific forms without departing from the spirit or essential attributes thereof and accordingly, reference should be made to the appended claims rather than to the foregoing specification as indicating the scope of the invention. 

I claim:
 1. A shaving brush for applying shaving foam to a person's body comprising: a brush head comprised of a plurality of bristles secured at one end to a base; a hollow handle secured to said base opposite said bristles, said handle being adapted to contain a quantity of foamable liquid therein; at least one passage communicating between the interior of said hollow handle and said bristles; agitator means within said handle for agitating said liquid in order to turn said liquid into foam; means carried by said handle and accessible from the exterior of said handle for activating said agitator means, and means accessible from the exterior of said handle for forcing foam from the interior of said handle through said at least one passage to said bristles.
 2. The shaving brush as claimed in claim 1 wherein said agitator is a blade adapted to be rotated.
 3. The shaving brush as claimed in claim 2 further including an electric motor carried by said handle for causing said blade to spin.
 4. The shaving brush as claimed in claim 3 including a drive shaft extending from said motor to said blade.
 5. The shaving brush as claimed in claim 4 including switch means carried by said handle for turning said electric motor on and off.
 6. The shaving brush as claimed in claim 1 wherein said means for forcing foam from the interior of said handle through said at least one passage to said bristles includes at least a portion of said handle being formed of a resilient material which can be depressed inwardly toward the interior of said handle.
 7. The shaving brush as claimed in claim 6 further including a one-way air valve in said handle which allows said portion of said handle to return to its original position after it has been depressed.
 8. The shaving brush as claimed in claim 1 including a closable opening in said handle which allows said liquid to be introduced into said interior of said hollow handle. 